based on sales...
1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
2. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
4. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
6. Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
9. Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer
10. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling, art by Mary GrandPre
Source: USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list; analysis by Anthony DeBarros
For more interesting facts about the book industry during the past decade, check out Decade in books: Writers work magic, delivery has transformed
Friday, December 25, 2009
USA TODAYS' TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE 2000'S
Friday, December 18, 2009
MY FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2009
BEST FICTION
THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett: 1960's Mississippi is explored through the lives of the black maids who were good enough to raise the white children of their employers, but not good enough to use their bathrooms. A word-of-mouth, bestselling debut and my pick for the best book of the year. Once or twice a year a book like this comes out, if we are lucky. In the same class as Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, and well, you get the idea.
HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY by Audrey Niffenegger: Niffenegger is just a great storyteller, and she keeps turning my preconceived notions upside down. I don't generally care for ghost stories, at least not since I was a kid, but this book - a ghost story in its simplest incantation - kept me mesmerized.
VERY VALENTINE by Adriana Trigiani: A new series opener with all the winning elements Trigiani is known for; a warm, loving yet rambunctious Italian family, a strong woman finding out just how strong she is, and a touch of romance and laughter.
THE STEPMOTHER by Carrie Adams: Memorable story about family relationships, second marriages, stepchildren, and friendship with humor and pathos.
THE FIXER UPPER by Mary Kay Andrews: A fun read about unemployment and a broken heart...if such a thing is possible, Mary Kay Andrews is the one to pull it off, and she does.
BEST THRILLERS
THE LAST CHILD by John Hart: An unforgettable story about a 14 year old boy's search for his missing twin sister. Southern fiction hasn't been this good for me in years.
BEAT THE REAPER by Josh Bazell: A medical thriller that is simply shocking, with black humor and footnotes. And it works beautifully in this first novel, which will hit theaters, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, sometime in 2010.
THE SCARECROW by Michael Connelly: Connelly brings back Jack McEvoy (The Poet) in this pageturner about the demise of newspapers, Internet security run amok and a serial killer.
LOOK AGAIN by Lisa Scottoline: Scottoline stepped out of the legal genre and moved to an intriguing tale of a journalist whose adopted child may not be legally hers...but does she really want to find out?
DIE FOR YOU by Lisa Unger: When her husband goes missing, Isabel is determined to find him, even though he isn't who she thought he was in this complex and fast moving novel of suspense.
THE RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick: A mail order bride takes center stage in this gothic, twisted, and riveting debut.
THE GIRL SHE USED TO BE by David Cristofano: A remarkable first novel based on a clever premise; a young woman who grew up in the Witness Protection Program wants out, which proves to be not the best decision.
VANISHED by Joseph Finder: First book of a new series featuring ex-Special Forces private investigator Nick Heller, a dynamic, interesting character in a tightly woven tale of suspense.
ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL by James Patterson & Richard DiLallo: This historical thriller set at the turn of the last century while the Klu Klux Klan ruled small town Mississippi and lynchings abounded is not typical Patterson fare, but much, much richer.
BEST NONFICTION
THE LINEUP: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives, edited by Otto Penzler: A must read for all mystery fans who have the least bit of curiosity about how their favorite characters were created.
KNIVES AT DAWN: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition by Andrew Friedman: Who knew a cooking competition could be so enthralling? In Friedman's hands, it is fascinating, fast reading.
BEST COOKBOOK
A16: FOOD & WINE by Nate Appleman & Shelley Lindgren: A16 is Appleman's restaurant in San Francisco, and after reading through this book I'm convinced it would be worth the trip to eat there.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Barnes & Noble Best books of 2009
The Best Books of 2009: Editors' Picks
Not only haven't I read any of their top fiction picks, I haven't heard of most of them. What is going on in the book business? Are obscure books better than popular ones? Really??
Amazon best books of 2009
I always find the dichotomy between the editors' picks and customers intriguing. Check out both lists:
Amazon.com Best Books of 2009
Editors' Picks: Top 100 Books
Our annual Best of the Year debates, often contentious, were the easiest and most amicable we've ever had, at least when it came to our top pick. The nearly unanimous choice: Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, a rich and moving novel of New York City in the '70s, told in ten distinctive voices from all corners of the city whose lives connect and divide against the backdrop of Philippe Petit's audaciously graceful tightrope walk between the Twin Towers.
Customers' Bestsellers: Top 100 Books
Everybody knows what our bestselling book of 2009 was: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's long-awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. But the race was closer than you might think: following Brown on our year-ending list are three books from authors with their own radio platforms, political talkers on the right Mark R. Levin and Glenn Beck and comedian-turned-radio-host Steve Harvey, and then the word-of-mouth fiction breakout of the year, Kathryn Stockett's The Help, which has earned over 900 five-star reviews from Amazon customers.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
Amazon.com, in partnership with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, is pleased to announce the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. For the first time, the competition will award two grand prizes: one for General Fiction and one for Young Adult Fiction. The 2010 competition will also now be open to novels that have previously been self-published. Each winner will receive a publishing contract with Penguin, which includes a $15,000 advance.
Congratulations to last year's Breakthrough Novel Award winner, James King, whose winning novel, Bill Warrington's Last Chance, will be published by Viking in August 2010. Bill Loehfelm's Fresh Kills, the 2008 winner, is now available in paperback.
The Breakthrough Novel Award brings together talented writers, reviewers, and publishing experts to find and develop new voices in fiction. If you're an author with an unpublished or previously self-published novel waiting to be discovered, visit CreateSpace to learn more about the next Breakthrough Novel Award and sign up for regular updates on the contest. Open submissions for manuscripts will begin on January 25, 2010 through February 7, 2010.
See the official contest rules for more information on how to enter.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
RADIO SHOW DEBUTS FOR PENGUIN CLASSICS
“Penguin Classics on Air,” a half-hour radio series devoted to the discussion and exploration of some of Penguin Classics’ more than 1500 titles, debuts this week on Sirius XM Book Radio (Sirius #117, XM #163). Written and produced entirely by Penguin employees, the show will air twice a week, on Mondays from 3:00pm to 3:30pm and on Thursdays from 11:30pm to midnight.
“Penguin Classics on Air” is hosted by Penguin Classics Editorial Director Elda Rotor, along with Associate Publisher Stephen Morrison and Senior Director of Academic Marketing Alan Walker. The show features in-depth conversations with scholars and experts about various topics including Austenmania, the enduring appeal of vampires in literature, the philosophers everyone should (and can) read, and books that have sparked revolutions. This week’s episode, “Why We Love Jane Austen,” talks about what it means to be a Janeite, how etiquette was different in Austen’s time, and why spoofs like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are so popular right now. The shows will roll out over the next ten weeks in the following order:
Why We Love Jane Austen: Elda Rotor interviews Jane Austen scholar Juliette Wells, about Austenmania, what it means to be a Janeite, etiquette in Austen’s time, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Alan Walker, introduces listeners to Excellent Women by Barbara Pym on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” And Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice in his segment, “First Pages.”
The Noli: Jose Rizal and the Novel that Sparked the Philippine Revolution: Elda Rotor interviews Rowena Jiminez about a Jose Rizal/Noli Me Tangere community read-a-thon organized through her nonprofit group Bagon Luturang Pinoy, and speaks with Harold Augenbraum, the translator of the Penguin Classics edition of this classic. Alan Walker introduces listeners to The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” And Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere in “First Pages.”
A Hero of Our Time: The First Major Russian Novel?: Elda Rotor introduces Penguin Classics editor John Siciliano and his interview with Natasha Randall, translator of Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time, about the invention of Russian roulette, the beauty of the Caucuses, the misery of a Russian soldier, and the inherent danger of dueling. Alan Walker introduces readers to First Love by Ivan Turgenev on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Lermontov’s A Hero of Our Time in his segment, “First Pages.”
Scholem Aleichem: Yiddish Classics by the Creator of Tevye from “Fiddler on the Roof”: Elda Rotor introduces Penguin Classics editor John Siciliano and his interview with Aliza Shevrin, translator of Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son, as well as Wandering Stars, about the life and works of Scholem Aleichem, the difference between Fiddler on the Roof and Tevye the Dairyman, Yiddish humor, life, and culture from Russia to the Lower East Side, and what to do with five daughters. Alan Walker recommends Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” And Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Aleichem’s Tevye The Dairyman in “First Pages.”
The Birth of Knickerbocker: Washington Irving’s A History of New York: Elda Rotor interviews Betsy Bradley, the introducer and editor of Washington Irving’s A History of New York, Irving’s popular first book is an early nineteenth century satirical novel of colonial New Amsterdam. It follows the fictional historian Diedrich Knickerbocker as he narrates the development of New York cultural life—from the creation of the doughnut to the creation of Wall Street. Alan Walker introduces listeners to The Emigrants by Gilbert Imlay in “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Washington Irving’s beloved story “Rip Van Winkle.” in his segment, “First Pages.”
· Who Would Have Thought It?: The First Novel by a Mexican American
Elda Rotor interviews Amelia Maria de la Luz Montes, the editor and introducer of Who Would Have Thought It? about this major rediscovery of a little known Mexican-American author. Alan Walker introduces listeners to Summer by Edith Wharton on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton’s Who Would Have Thought It? in his segment, “First Pages.”
· Tolstoy’s Final Year: Jay Parini and Last Steps
Elda Rotor interviews author Jay Parini about Leo Tolstoy’s late writings and the film production based on Parini’s novel, The Last Station, which stars James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti, Helen Mirren, and Christopher Plummer. Alan Walker introduces listeners to Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina in his segment, “First Pages.”
· Vampires on Paper: The Enduring Appeal of Vampires in Literature
Elda Rotor interviews Twilight expert Donna Freitas about the appeal of Stephanie Meyer’s vampire series and how it compares to Emily Bronte’s enduring classic Wuthering Heights. Elda then speaks with Dacre Stoker, a direct descendent of Bram Stoker, and Ian Holt, authors of Dracula: The Un-Dead, who explain why Dracula and other vampires are such popular characters in literature. Alan Walker introducers listeners to The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison offers up the opening to Bram Stoker’s Dracula in his segment, “First Pages.”
· Philosophy is Easy: The Philosophers Everyone Should (and Can) Read
Stephen Morrison interviews “the philosophy guys,” Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, author of The New York Times bestseller Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar…and gets a hilarious run-down of the four (it’s an arbitrary number) most important (really!) philosophers in the history of philosophy. Alan Walker introduces listeners to Voltaire’s Candide on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Then Stephen offers up the opening to Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling in his segment, “First Pages.”
· Gosta Berling: The Swedish Gone with the Wind
John Siciliano of Penguin Classics interviews translator Paul Norlen and introducer George C. Schoolfield about The Saga of Gosta Berling, written by Selma Lagerlof, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Alan Walker introduces Hunger by Knut Hamsun on “Reading the Classics from A to Z.” Stephen Morrison reads from the opening to Selma Lagerlof’s The Saga of Gosta Berling in his segment, “First Pages.”
“Penguin Classics on Air” is part of Penguin Group (USA)’s “From the Publisher’s Office” an online network where readers can watch, listen and read content that has been created, recorded, and produced entirely by Penguin employees.
PENGUIN CLASSICS ON AIR
Penguin Group (USA) has launched its own online network called “From the Publisher’s Office,” with three channels featuring nine series of book entertainment for adults, young adults and children. The network will feature several episodic online series, including “YA Central,” “Project Paranormal,” “Penguin Storytime” and “Tarcher Talks,” and audio series such as “Penguin Classics on Air,” “Business Beat” and “A Cup of Poetry.” All of the programming is original and customized for a wide range of audiences, and new episodes will be produced each publishing season. The network is now live on the Penguin Group (USA) website at www.penguin.com/thepublishersoffice
For over sixty years, Penguin has been the leading Classics publisher in the English-speaking world, providing readers with a global bookshelf of the best works from around the world and across history, genres, and disciplines. We focus on bringing together the best of the past and the future, using cutting edge design and production as well as embracing the digital age to create unforgettable editions of treasured literature. Penguin Classics is timeless and trend-setting. Whether you love our familiar black spine series, our Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions, or our Penguin Enriched eBook Classics, we bring the writer to the reader in every format available.
Monday, December 07, 2009
FSB Holiday Giveaway!
FSB Associates wanted me to share this with BookBitch readers...
We at FSB Associates want to do our share to support books and the publishing industry. In the spirit of the holiday season, and support for BuyingBooksfortheHolidays.com, we will be conducting a 3-Day Holiday Giveaway!
For three days only, December 8th, 9th, and 10th, we will be giving away a limited quantity of books to randomly selected winners! The official entry begins at 12pm (eastern) on each day. Here is our schedule of events:
Day 1. Lost Symbol Fans! If you have read and loved Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, enter to win this companion pack! The pack features The Masonic Myth by Jay Kinney and Decoding the Lost Symbol by Simon Cox. We have 3 packs to giveaway!
Day 2. Celebrity Chef Mary Ann Esposito, has 5 signed copies of her latest cookbook to be given away: Ciao Italia: Five Ingredient Favorites. Check out Mary Ann's tips for holiday cooking here!
Day 3. 3 copies of Quirk Classics' bestselling literary monster mash-up, Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters signed by co-author Ben Winters! Also included: the Deluxe hardcover edition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, co-authored by Seth Grahame-Smith! Learn more about the books, and discover the next monster mash-up at QuirkClassics.com.
Anyone within the continental US is eligible to enter. Entries made on a specific day after 12pm (eastern time) will only be eligible for that day's giveaway, so visit often! To enter for your chance to win, simply click here! Spread the word to your friends by forwarding this message.
We would also like to wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday season.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
FICTION including...
Lark and Termite By Jayne Anne Phillips
NONFICTION
including...
A World of Trouble: The White House and the Middle East – from the Cold War to the War on Terror By Patrick Tyler
Simply the best nonfiction
also from the Boston Globe
TRUE COMPASS
By Edward M. Kennedy
LAST LION: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy
By the Team at The Boston Globe
Edited by Peter S. Canellos
THE GOOD SOLDIERS
By David Finkel
FLANNERY: A Life of Flannery O’Connor
By Brad Gooch
THE FIRST TYCOON The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
By T.J. Stiles
THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
By Douglas Brinkley
FORDLANDIA: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City
By Greg Grandin
FOLLOWING THE WATER: A Hydromancer’s Notebook
By David M. Carroll
Simply the best fiction
from the Boston Globe
WOLF HALL
By Hilary Mantel
THE COLLECTOR OF WORLDS
By Iliya Troyanov
LAND OF MARVELS
By Barry Unsworth
THE IMMORTALS
By Amit Chaudhuri
RED APRIL
By Santiago Roncagliolo
THIS IS HOW
By M.J. Hyland
LOVE AND SUMMER
By William Trevor
LOOK AT THE BIRDIE
By Kurt Vonnegut
THE COMPLETE STORIES OF J.G. BALLARD
By J.G. Ballard
TOO MUCH HAPPINESS
By Alice Munro
THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD
By Robert Wilson
THE LONG FALL
By Walter Mosley
Thursday, December 03, 2009
BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
The lists begin with the New York Times, none of which I've read!
10 best books of 2009
"after so many years, and so many lists, you might think the task of choosing the 10 Best Books would get easier. If only. The sublime story collections alone created agonies of indecision. So did the superb literary biographies we read--and deeply admired. But in the end the decisions had to be made."
Fiction
* Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy (Riverhead)
* Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday)
* A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore (Knopf)
* Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)
* A Short History of Women by Kate Walbert (Scribner)
Nonfiction
* The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (Pantheon)
* The Good Soldiers by David Finkel (Sarah Crichton Books/FSG)
* Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr (Harper)
* Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed (Penguin)
* Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life by Carol Sklenicka (Scribner)
Bad Sex in Fiction Award
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Jonathan Littell won the Bad Sex in Fiction Award, the U.K.’s “most dreaded literary prize,” for his depiction of the sadomasochistic encounters between twin siblings in his World War II novel, “The Kindly Ones.”
The judges cited Littell for one incestuous scene that unfolds on the bed of a guillotine and another that invokes the myth of Cyclops, “whose single eye never blinks.” These marred what the judges called an impressive work.
“It is in part a work of genius,” the judges said in an e-mailed statement about the novel, which won the Prix Goncourt, France’s top book prize, in 2006.
Yet Littell clinched the Bad Sex award with one “mythologically inspired passage” and another that compared a sexual climax to “a jolt that emptied my head like a spoon scraping the inside of a soft-boiled egg.”
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
HOT, FLAT & CROWDED
If you missed this book when it first came out, now is your chance to buy the newly issued paperback of Hot, Flat & Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How it Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman.
Friedman has updated and revised the book, which they are calling Version 2.0. Friedman has some excerpts from the first two chapters and an audio preview on his website, as well as a book discussion guide.
ThomasFriedman.com
As we delve into the holiday season of excess, it is a very good time to read this book.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Miami Book Fair 2009
I spent the day in Miami, hobnobbing with authors, librarians, booksellers, and of course readers. The weather was beautiful, but the pickings were slim. There were a lot of authors I wasn't familiar with, which is sometimes a nice way of finding new authors, but instead I went with authors somewhat more familiar.
We didn't get down there until after 10; I wasn't willing to get up before 7 on my day off to see Al Gore. I heard the room was packed so I'm sure I wasn't missed. Just wandering the street fair I ran into Carol Fitzgerald from The Book Report Network, owner of www.Bookreporter.com, www.ReadingGroupGuides.com, www.AuthorsOnTheWeb.com, and several other excellent, book related websites. She promised to email me the titles of two upcoming St. Martins/Minotaur books that sounded fabulous.
My first panel of the day featured funny thriller writers Paul Levine (pictured top) and Jeff Lindsay (pictured bottom.) Richard Belzer was scheduled to be with them but was a no-show. No great loss though, Levine and Lindsay were, as always, very entertaining. They were introduced by Chauncey Mabe, the long time book editor of the Sun Sentinel who informed us that he was no longer in that position, but was now a freelance writer. Note to self: check into that story...
Paul Levine opened by telling the audience that he was sure he was speaking for everyone in the room when he said, "Jeff, you are a sick puppy." Lindsay is the author of the Dexter series, the lovable serial killer that kills other serial killers that has since been made into the hit TV show on Showtime.
Levine then spoke a little about the Miami he remembered - he was a practicing lawyer for 17 years before going Hollywood and writing for TV shows, Jag and Lassiter, among others. He spoke about his latest book, Illegal, which is a really good thriller about a boy and his mother trying to move to the US from Mexico, illegally of course, and they get separated. It's a really good story and very suspenseful. Levine spoke about the opening, saying it "opens with something a lot of lawyers do; a lawyer trying to bribe a judge."
Lindsay spoke next, opening with "So much time, so little to say." Every time I see him I am reminded that he once tried his hand at stand-up comedy - lots of one liners. People got to ask questions at the end, and someone asked him if the Michael C. Hall character got into his head when he was trying to write the book. He says it doesn't affect him; he tries to keep away from Hollywood as much as possible. He doesn't write for the show and there are some discrepancies between the books and the show. One in particular he found confusing - the character Vince Masuoka in the book became Vince Masuka in the TV show. He wondered why Hollywood made Vince lose his "o".
One of the most interesting questions came from a librarian. She asked whether Dexter's name came from "dexterous", meaning left handed, and "sinister", meaning right handed. Lindsay was stunned, saying it was only the second time he's ever been asked this. She was correct - he said the book's original title was the "Left Hand of God".
After the mystery panel, it was time for politics so we headed over to see Taylor Branch. His new book, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President offers unprecedented access to a sitting president. Branch spoke about how he met Clinton when they roomed together during the McGovern campaign in the 1970s. Branch decided he was too "cynical for politics" and became a journalist, but Clinton realized he had a gift for politics. Years later, Branch was invited to an inaugural party for newly elected President Clinton at Katherine Graham's house, where Clinton greeted him by saying in amazement, "Can you believe this?"
Shortly after that, Branch was summoned to the White House. Clinton told Branch that he was interested in recording history in the making, and asked Branch if he would be interested in helping. Branch said he was amazed at how idealistic Clinton still was, after twenty years in politics. Branch agreed, and they began meeting on a regular basis, usually late at night and in secret. Clinton would talk about whatever was going on, and Branch recorded it, asking questions along the way. Clinton offered almost unlimited access to a sitting president, all of it on the record, which was quite extraordinary. Branch says the book is not a biography, that he was too close to the subject and too close in time to create such a book. Instead, he views it as a "first hand record of being with a sitting president," recording his thoughts on events while they were happening.
Branch told some great stories. I especially loved the one about how President Clinton was awakened one night at 3:30 in the morning by the secret service. Apparently Boris Yeltsin was visiting and staying at Blair House, but he had "escaped" and was standing on the lawn, drunk and in his underwear, yelling for a pizza. The secret service wanted to know what to do. Suffice it to say Yeltsin got his pizza. He also talked about how Clinton had been invited to go to Japan for some conference, but refused to go because Chelsea had her junior year midterm exams, and he didn't want to leave her during that stressful time.
Branch also told a hilarious story about how there was some sort of summit, and Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush all ended up staying over at the White House. It was the first time ever that four presidents sat down and had breakfast together in the White House. It was a quiet meal, they didn't have much to say to one another until the subject of Ross Perot came up. It turned out that the one thing they all had in common was that they all hated Perot, especially Bush! They shared Perot stories all morning long.
Someone asked Branch if he wondered if Clinton was telling the truth, or just being a "storyteller", trying to make his own history. Branch pointed out that Clinton would have had to have been clairvoyant to do that, he was speaking on events as they happened, and would have no way of knowing how things would spin out later on. Being the Bill Clinton fan that I am, I was completely captivated and bought the book. I have to say that Branch seemed genuinely delighted to sign every book put in front of him. He shook hands, chatted, and was just his amiable self.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta was scheduled next for the hall where C-Span was recording all day for BookTV. However, he had cancelled, and Mike Farrell had agreed to fill in for him. At the closing of the Branch segment, it was announced that Farrell had cancelled as he had a death in the family the day before. So there was a gap in the schedule, just in time for lunch.
After lunch we headed back to see Gwen Ifill. She is always so calm and laidback on NPR, but was quite feisty and charming at this event. She spoke about her career, how she started in print journalism until Tim Russert dared her to do TV full time. She acquiesced, and was on NBC for years with her good friend and mentor, Russert. She is thrilled with her move to PBS however, and was asked about today's TV journalists. She said she feels like she needs to be just a conduit of the news, and that too many people prefer to use the media to just "confirm conclusions they've already reached."
Ifill also spoke about moderating the debate during the election, and even made reference to Queen Latifa - which was my first thought when I saw her on the schedule at the fair. She took a lot of flack about her, at the time, upcoming book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, but she was protected from it as she prepared for the debate. The book didn't come out until long after the election, and she was vindicated when it did - it is not a biography of Obama. It is a book about black men in politics, and Obama is just one of several including Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Ifill says "the good thing about writing about race - something is always happening."
Something that is dear to Ifill's heart is The History Makers Project. This is a website that archives interviews of famous African Americans as a way to preserve their history. Ifill has done several interviews, including Quincy Jones and Eartha Kitt, shortly before she passed away.
Wally Lamb was scheduled after Ifill, but I'd seen him before and didn't care to see him again. The only other author I would have liked to see was John Hodgeman, but he wasn't scheduled until 5, which would have had me driving around Miami (and frankly, not the nicest part of Miami) after dark, so I passed.
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